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Old 05-06-2006, 12:11 PM posted to uk.rec.gardening
 
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Default Wasps EATING wooden sheds!


Ellie Bentley wrote:
Has anyone experience of this? Two wooden sheds, bought from the Focus
DIY chain of stores, about two years ago, are literally being consumed
at present by wasps! They have not partaken of this apparently
delicious wood in either of the last two summers.

A wasp lands on any external part of the wooden sheds and proceeds to
eat and crawl at the same time so as to produce a guage or indented
crevice about a millimetre deep and up to three centimetres in length.
The wasp lands so that it's head is facing upwards and it then proceeds
to eat and crawl in an upwards direction and with the grain of the wood.

When the sheds were purchased they were a golden brown colour,
presumably some kind of protective waxy coating. The wood is now
"seasoned", I suppose, it has turned grey and is not waxy to the touch.
Perhaps it is time to give them another coat of wood preservative. I
never thought that would have to be done to ward off wasps though!

Any information and advice would be much appreciated.

Ellie.


Very common in the early part of the year as they use the chewed wood
to make their nests. They don't take a great deal of the wood, I've
seen posts that have been used for many years showing little real
signs.
Mike